In the News: “What a Metro’s Diversity Means for Economic Success”

Check out a great post by Oscar Perry Abello for NextCity.org on Equity, Growth, and Community: What a Metro’s Diversity Means for Economic Success.The article widens the perspective on economic planning processes from cities to metropolitan regions, and discusses how Benner and Pastor’s book sheds light on how successful economic development outcomes in these regions can be linked to the diversity of voices at the table and the types of inclusive conversations it fosters.

The economic future of our metros may be tied directly to how we talk about them — and more importantly, who is doing the talking…

…The authors dig into layers of data and find evidence to support what they call “diverse epistemic communities” as the basis for regional economies that are both more equitable and more capable of adapting and evolving to meet the changing demands of a global economy.

“It’s a clunky term, we know, but epistemic community actually has an intuitive meaning: It’s what you know and who you know it with,” they write.